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BY THE SAME WRITER 

HOMEWARD, SONGS BY THE WAY. 
THE EARTH BREATH. 



THE DIVINE VISION 
AND OTHER POEMS 



'?&&& 



THE DIVINE VISION 



AND OTHER POEMS 



By A. E. 



Nefo gork 
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

LONDON: MACMILLAN tc CO., Ltd. 
I9O4 

All rights reserved 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

JAN I! 1904 

\ Copyright Entry 
CLASS *- XXc. No. 
; COPY S 






Copyright, 1904, 
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up, electrotyped, and published January, 1904. 



Nortoooti Press 

J. S. Cushing & Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 

Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



TO 

S. M. T. K. 

s. v. g. r. ; 

E. Y. J. S. 

COMRADES IN THE CRAFT 



When twilight flutters the mountains over, 

The faery lights from the earth unfold : 

And over the caves enchanted hover 

The giant heroes and gods of old. 

The bird of at her its flaming pinions 

Waves over earth the whole night long : 

The stars drop down in their blue dominions 

To hymn together their choral song. 

The child of earth in his heart grows burning, 

Mad for the night and the deep unknown ; 

His alien flame in a dream returning 

Seats itself on the ancient throne. 

When twilight over the mountains fluttered 

And night with its starry millions came, 

I too had dreams : the songs I have uttered 

Come from this heart that was touched by the flame. 



CONTENTS 



The Divine Vision 










l 3 


The Gates of Dreamland 










15 


Freedom 










18 


The Master Singer 










l 9 


Remembrance 










21 


Dana .... 










23 


The Grey Eros . 










25 


Rest .... 










27 


The Nuts of Knowledge 










28 


The Burning Glass 










30 


The Twilight of Earth 










3 1 


Night 










34 


The Morning Star 










36 


A Farewell 










38 


The Message . . , 










40 


At One 










42 


The Well of All Healing 










44 



A New Being 

A Call of the Sidhe 

Love from Afar . 

Babylon 

The Silence of Love 

Aphrodite . 

Refuge 

The Faces of Memory 

The Secret Love 

The Weaver of Souls 

Transformation . 

Children of Lir . 

Light and Dark . 

Twilight by the Cabin 

Beauty 

The Vision of Love 

A Memory . 

-A Summer Night 

Whom we Worship 

Mistrust 

The Dream . 

The Feast of Age 

A Way of Escape 

Recall 

The Voice of the Waters 



IO 



In Connemara 

An Irish Face 

Hope in Failure . 

The Crown 

The Everlasting Battle 

Ordeal 

The Child of Destiny 

A Farewell 

The Parting of Ways 

A Midnight Meditation 

Age and Youth . 

The Joy of Earth 

Reconciliation 

NOTE 



PAGE 

9+ 
95 
97 
99 
ioo 

102 
IO4 
IO7 
IO9 
I I I 
II 4 
Il6 
Il8 

121 



II 



THE DIVINE VISION 

This mood hath known all beauty, for it sees 

Overwhelmed majesties 

In these pale forms, and kingly crowns of gold 

On brows no longer bold, 

And through the shadowy terrors of their hell 

The love for which they fell, 

And how desire which cast them in the deep 

Called God too from His sleep. 

Oh, pity, only seer, who looking through 

A heart melted like dew, 

Seest the long perished in the present thus, 

For ever dwell in us. 

Whatever time thy golden eyelids ope 

They travel to a hope ; 

13 



Not only backward from these low degrees 

To starry dynasties, 

But, looking far where now the silence owns 

And rules from empty thrones, 

Thou seest the enchanted hills of heaven burn 

For joy at our return. 

Thy tender kiss hath memory we are kings 

For all our wanderings. 

Thy shining eyes already see the after 

In hidden light and laughter. 



*4 



THE GATES OF DREAMLAND 

It's a lonely road through bogland to the lake at 

Carrowmore, 
And a sleeper there lies dreaming where the 

water laps the shore ; 
Though the moth-wings of the twilight in their 

purples are unfurled, 
Yet his sleep is filled with music by the masters 

of the world. 

There's a hand is white as silver that is fondling 

with his hair : 
There are glimmering feet of sunshine that are 

dancing by him there: 
And half-open lips of faery that were dyed a faery 

red 
In their revels where the Hazel Tree its holy 

clusters shed. 

*s 



<l Come away," the red lips whisper, " all the 

world is weary now ; 
* Tis the twilight of the ages and it's time to quit 

the plough. 

Oh, the very sunlight's weary ere it lightens up 

the dew, 
And its gold is changed and faded before it falls 

to you, 

" Though your colleen's heart be tender, a ten- 
derer heart is near. 

What's the starlight in her glances when the stars 
are shining clear ? 

Who would kiss the fading shadow when the 
flower-face glows above ? 

'Tis the Beauty of all Beauty that is calling for 
your love." 

Oh, the great gates of the mountain have opened 

once again, 
.And the sound of song and dancing falls upon 

the ears o\ men, 

16 



And the I -and of Youth lies gleaming, flushed 
with rainbow light and mirth, 

And the old enchantment lingers in the honey- 
heart of earth. 



17 



FREEDOM 

I will not follow you, my bird, 

I will not follow you. 
I would not breathe a word, my bird, 

To bring thee here anew. 

I love the free in thee, my bird, 

The lure of freedom drew ; 
The light you fly toward, my bird, 

I fly with thee unto. 

And there we yet will meet, my bird, 

Though far I go from you, 
Where in the light outpoured, my bird, 

Are love and freedom too. 



18 



THE MASTER SINGER 

A laughter in the diamond air, a music in the 

trembling grass ; 
And one by one the words of light as joydrops 

through my being pass : 
" I am the sunlight in the heart, the silver 

moon-glow in the mind ; 
My laughter runs and ripples through the wavy 

tresses of the wind. 
I am the fire upon the hills, the dancing flame 

that leads afar 
Each burning hearted wanderer, and I the dear 

and homeward star. 
A myriad lovers died for me, and in their latest 

yielded breath 
I woke in glory giving them immortal life 

though touched by death. 
l 9 



They knew me from the dawn of time: if 
Hermes beats his rainbow wings, 

If Angus shakes his locks of light, or golden- 
haired Apollo sings, 

It matters not the name, the land: my joy in 
all the Gods abides : 

Even in the cricket in the grass some dimness 
of me smiles and hides. 

For joy of me the daystar glows, and in delight 
and wild desire 

The peacock twilight rays aloft its plumes and 
blooms of shadowy fire, 

Where in the vastness too I burn through 
summer nights and ages long, 

And with the fiery-footed watchers shake in 
myriad dance and song." 



ao 



REMEMBRANCE 

There were many burning hours on the heart- 
sweet tide, 
And we passed away from ourselves, forget- 
ting all 
The immortal moods that faded, the god who 
died, 
Hastening away to the King on a distant 

call. 

There were ruby dews were shed when the heart 
was riven, 
And passionate pleading and prayers to the 
dead we had wronged ; 
And we passed away, unremembering and un- 
forgiven, 
Hastening away to the King for the peace we 
longed. 

21 



1 ,ove untemcinheied and heart ache \vc leit 

behind, 
We forsook them, unheeding, hastening away 

in our night ; 
We knew the hearts we had wronged ol old we 

would find 
When we came to the fold o\ the King tin- 
Test in the nicrht. 



29 



DANA 

f am the tender voice Calling u Away," 
Whispering between the heatings of the heart, 
And inaccessible in dewy eyes 
I dwell, and all unkissed on lovely lips, 

Lingering between white breasts inviolate, 

And fleeting ever from the passionate touch, 
I shine afar, tdl men may not divine 
Whether it is the stars or the beloved 
They follow with rapt Spirit. And f weave 
My spells at evening, folding with dim can 
Aerial arms and twilight dropping hair, 
'I'll'- lonely wanderer by wood or shore, 
Till, filled with some deep tenderness, he yields, 
Feeling in dreams for the dear mother heart 
I le knew, ere he forsook the starry way, 

23 



And clings there, pillowed far above the smoke 
And the dim murmur from the duns of men. 
I can enchant the trees and rocks, and fill 
The dumb brown lips of earth with mystery, 
Make them reveal or hide the god. I breathe 
A deeper pity than all love, myself 
Mother of all, but without hands to heal: 
Too vast and vague, they know me not. But yet, 
I am the heartbreak over fallen things, 
The sudden gentleness that stays the blow, 
And I am in the kiss that foemen give 
Pausing in battle, and in the tears that fall 
Over the vanquished foe, and in the highest, 
Among the Danaan gods, I am the last 
Council of mercy in their hearts where they 
Mete justice from a thousand starry thrones. 



24 



THE GREY EROS 

We are desert leagues apart ; 

Time is misty ages now 
Since the warmth of heart to heart 

Chased the shadows from my brow. 

Oh, I am so old, meseems 
I am next of kin to Time, 

The historian of her dreams 

From the long-forgotten prime. 

You have come a path of flowers. 

What a way was mine to roam ! 
Many a fallen empire's towers, 

Many a ruined heart my home. 
25 



No, there is no comfort, none. 

All the dewy tender breath 
Idly falls when life is done 

On the starless brow of death. 

Though the dream of love may tire, 

In the ages long agone 
There were ruby hearts of fire — 

Ah, the daughters of the dawn ! 

Though I am so feeble now, 
I remember when our pride 

Could not to the Mighty bow; 
We would sweep His stars aside. 

Mix thy youth with thoughts like those 

It were but to wither thee, 
But to graft the youthful rose 

On the old and flowerless tree. 

Age is no more near than youth 
To the sceptre and the crown. 

Vain the wisdom, vain the truth ; 
Do not lay thy rapture down. 
26 



REST 

On me to rest, my bird, my bird : 
The swaying branches of my heart 

Are blown by every wind toward 

The home whereto their wings depart. 

Build not your nest, my bird, on me ; 

I know no peace but ever sway : 
O lovely bird, be free, be free, 

On the wild music of the day. 

But sometimes when your wings would rest, 
And winds are laid on quiet eves : 

Come, I will bear you breast to breast, 
And lap you close with loving leaves. 



27 



THE NUTS OF KNOWLEDGE 

A cabin on the mountain side hid in a grassy 

nook 
Where door and windows open wide that friendly 

stars may look. 
The rabbit shy can patter in, the winds may 

enter free, 
Who throng around the mountain throne in 

living ecstasy. 

And when the sun sets dimmed in eve and purple 

fills the air, 
I think the sacred Hazel Tree is dropping berries 

there 

28 



From starry fruitage waved aloft where Connla's 

Well o'erflows ; 
For sure the enchanted waters run through every 

wind that blows. 

I think when night towers up aloft and shakes 

the trembling dew, 
How every high and lonely thought that thrills 

my being through 
Is but a ruddy berry dropped down through the 

purple air. 
And from the magic tree of life the fruit falls 

everywhere. 



29 



THE BURNING GLASS 

A shaft of fire that Kills like dew, 
And melts and maddens all my blood, 

From out thy spirit Hashes through 
The burning glass of womanhood. 

Only so far ; here must 1 stay : 
Nearer 1 miss the light, the fire ; 

1 must endure the torturing ray, 
And with all beauty, all desire. 

Ah, time long must the effort be, 
And far the way that I must go 

To bring my spirit unto thee, 

Behind the glass, within the glow. 



30 



THE TWILIGHT OF EARTH 

The wonder of the world is o'er: 

The magic from the sea is gone: 
There is no unimagined shore, 

No islet yet to venture on. 
The Sacred Hazels' blooms are shed, 
The Nuts of Knowledge harvested. 

Oh, what is worth this lore of age 

If time shall never bring us back 
Our battle with the gods to wage 

Keeling along the starry track. 
The battle rapture here goes by 
In warring upon things that die. 

Let be the tale of him whose love 

Was sighed between white Deirdre's breasts, 

3 * 



It will not lift the heart above 

The sodden clay on which it rests. 
Love once had power the gods to bring 
All rapt on its wild wandering. 

We shiver in the falling dew, 

And seek a shelter from the storm : 

When man these elder brothers knew 
He found the mother nature warm, 

A hearth fire blazing through it all, 

A home without a circling wall. 

We dwindle down beneath the skies, 
And from ourselves we pass away : 

The paradise of memories 

Grows ever fainter day by day. 

The shepherd stars have shrunk within, 

The world's great night will soon begin. 

Will no one, ere it is too late, 

Ere fides the last memorial gleam, 

Recall for us our earlier state ? 
For nothing but so vast a dream 

3* 



That it would scale the steeps of air 
Could rouse us from so vast despair. 

The power is ours to make or mar 
Our fate as on the earliest morn, 

The Darkness and the Radiance are 
Creatures within the spirit born. 

Yet, bathed in gloom too long, we might 

Forget how we imagined light. 

Not yet are fixed the prison bars ; 

The hidden light the spirit owns 
If blown to flame would dim the stars 

And they who rule them from their thrones 
And the proud sceptred spirits thence 
Would bow to pay us reverence. 

Oh, while the glory sinks within 
Let us not wait on earth behind, 

But follow where it flies, and win 
The glow again, and we may find 

Beyond the Gateways of the Day 

Dominion and ancestral sway. 

c 33 



NIGHT 

Burning our hearts out with longing 

The daylight passed : 
Millions and millions together, 

The stars at last ! 

Purple the woods where the dewdrops, 

Pearly and grey 
Wash in the cool from our faces 

The flame of day. 

Glory and shadow grow one in 

The hazel wood : 
Laughter and peace in the stillness 

Together brood. 
34 



Hopes all unearthly are thronging 

I n hearts of earth : 
Tongues of the starlight are calling 

Our souls to birth. 

Down from the heaven its secrets 

Drop one by one ; 
Where time is for ever beginning 

And time is done. 

There light eternal is over 

Chaos and night : 
Singing with dawn lips for ever, 

" Let there be light ! " 

There too for ever in twilight 

Time slips away, 
Closing in darkness and rapture 

Its awful day. 



35 



THE MORNING STAR 

In the black pool of the midnight Lugh has 

slung the Morning Star, 
And its foam in rippling silver whitens into day 

afar 
Falling on the mountain rampart piled with 

pearl above our glen, 
Only you and I, beloved, moving in the fields 

of men. 

In the dark tarn of my spirit, Love, the Morn- 
ing Star is lit ; 

And its halo, ever brightening, lightens into 
dawn in it. 

Love, a pearl-grey dawn in darkness, breathing 
peace without desire ; 

But I fain would shun the burning terrors of 
the mid-day fire. 

36 



Through the faint and tender airs of twilight 

star on star may gaze, 
But the eyes of light are blinded in the white 

flame of the days, 
From the heat that melts together oft a rarer 

essence slips, 
And our hearts may still be parted in the 

meeting of the lips. 

What a darkness would I gaze on when the day 

had passed the west, 
If my eyes were dazed and blinded by the 

whiteness of a breast ? 
Never through the diamond darkness could I 

hope to see afar 
Where beyond the pearly rampart burned the 

purer Evening Star. 



37 



A FAREWELL 

I go down from the hills half in gladness, and 

half with a pain I depart, 
Where the Mother with gentlest breathing made 

music on lip and in heart ; 
For I know that my childhood is over : a call 

comes out of the vast, 
And the love that I had in the old time, like 

beauty in twilight, is past. 

I am fired by a Danaan whisper of battles afar 

in the world, 
And my thought is no longer of peace, for the 

banners in dream are unfurled, 
And I pass from the council of stars and of 

hills to a life that is new : 
And I bid to you stars and you mountains a 

tremulous long adieu. 

38 



I will come once again as a master, who played 

here as child in my dawn. 
I will enter the heart of the hills where the gods 

of the old world are gone. 
And will war like the bright Hound of Ulla 

with princes of earth and of sky. 
For my dream is to conquer the heavens and 

battle for kingship on high. 



39 



tiik mkss.u;k 

Do von not feel the white glow in your breast, 

mv bird i 
Th.u is the flame ot love I send to you troin 
at'.ir : 

Not .1 watted kiss, hardly .1 whispered wordj 
Hut love itself that flies as .1 white-winded star. 



let it dwell there, let it rest there, at home in 
\ our heart : 
Watted on winds of gold, it is Love itself, the 
Hove. 
Not the god whose arrows wounded with bitter 
smart. 
Nor the purple-fiery birds of death and love. 
40 



Do nof ask for the hands of love or love's soft 
eyes i 

They give le«8 than love who give all, giving 

what wanes. 
I give you the star fire, the heart way to Paradise, 

With no death after, no arrow with stinging 



pai 



tis. 



41 



AT ONE 

Sometimes a sudden fount of tears jets in my 

heart 
And oft-times golden gleams will through my 

being dart : 
Your cry or laugh, my sweet, though we are 

far apart. 

Above this hidden fount I bend and whisper 

clear 
More words of fonder love than if your heart 

were near, 
More tenderly than if my arms were round you, 

dear. 

42 



I feel your gay love lights such love in me afar, 
I would not have you near, for eyes and lips 

might mar 
The silence where we meet and star is lost in 

star. 

i 
I think of you in peace though under alien skies : 
Though death itself bereft, your love in me 

would rise 
In rainbow ripples borne from your heart in 

Paradise. 



43 



THE WELL OF ALL HEALING 

There's a cure for all things in the well at 
Ballylee 
Where the scarlet cressets hang over the 
trembling pool : 
And joyful winds are blowing from the Land of 
Youth to me, 
And the heart of the earth is full. 

Many and many a sunbright maiden saw the 

enchanted land 
With star faces glimmer up from the druid 
wave : 
Many and many a pain of love was soothed by 
a fiery hand 
Or lost in the love it gave. 
44 



When the quiet with a ring of pearl shall wed 
the earth, 
And the scarlet berries burn dark by the stars 
in the pool ; 
Oh, it's lost and deep I'll be amid the windy 
mirth, 
While the heart of the earth is full. 



45 



A NEW BEING 

I know myself no more, my child, 
Since thou art come to me, 

Pity so tender and so wild 

Hath wrapped my thoughts of thee. 

These thoughts a fiery gentle rain 
Are from the Mother shed, 

Where many a broken heart hath lain 
And many a weeping head. 



4 6 



A CALL OF THE SIDHE 

Tarry thou yet, late lingerer in the twilight's 
glory ; 

Gay are the hills with song : earth's faery chil- 
dren leave 

More dim abodes to roam the primrose-hearted 
eve, 

Opening their glimmering lips to breathe some 
wondrous story. 

Hush, not a whisper ! Let your heart alone go 
dreaming. 

Dream unto dream may pass : deep in the heart 
alone 

47 



Murmurs the Mighty One his solemn under- 
tone. 

Canst thou not see down the silver cloudland 
streaming 

Rivers of faery light, dewdrop on dewdrop fall- 
ing, 

Star-fire of silver flames, lighting the dark be- 
neath ? 

And what enraptured hosts burn on the dusky 
heath ! 

Come thou away with them for Heaven to Earth 
is calling. 

These are Earth's voice — her answer — spirits 
thronging. 

Come to the Land of Youth : the trees grown 
heavy there 

Drop on the purple wave the starry fruit they 
bear. 

Drink : the immortal waters quench the spirit's 
longing. 

Art thou not now, bright one, all sorrow past, 
in elation, 



Made young with joy, grown brother-hearted 

with the vast, 
Whither thy spirit wending flits the dim stars 

past 
Unto the Light of Lights in burning adoration. 



49 



LOVE FROM AFAR 

A burning fire rose up within me, 
You were away long miles apart ; 

You could not wait the day to win me, 
But came a lightning to my heart. 

I call into that flaming centre 
" Spirit, I love you." Far away 

Fades from the paradise I enter 
The dim unreal land of day. 



5° 



BABYLON 

The blue dusk ran between the streets: my love 

was winged within my mind, 
It left to-day and yesterday and thrice a thousand 

years behind. 
To-day was past and dead for me, for from to- 
day my feet had run 
Through thrice a thousand years to walk the 

ways of ancient Babylon. 
On temple top and palace roof the burnished 

gold flung back the rays 
Of a red sunset that was dead and lost beyond a 

million days. 
The tower of heaven turns darker blue, a starry 

sparkle now begins ; 
The mystery and magnificence, the myriad 

beauty and the sins 
5 1 



Come back to me. I walk beneath the shadowy 

multitude of towers ; 
Within the gloom the fountain jets its pallid 

mist in lily flowers. 
The waters lull me and the scent of many 

gardens, and I hear 
Familiar voices, and the voice I love is whisper- 
ing in my ear. • 
Oh real as in dream all this; and then a hand 

on mine is laid : 
The wave of phantom time withdraws ; and 

that young Babylonian maid, 
One drop of beauty left behind from all the 

flowing of that tide, 
Is looking with the self-same eyes, and here in 

Ireland by my side. 
Oh light our life in Babylon, but Babylon has 

taken wings, 
While we are in the calm and proud procession 

of eternal things. 



5* 



THE SILENCE OF LOVE 

I could praise you once with beautiful words 

ere you came 
And entered my life with love in a wind of 

flame. 
I could lure with a song from afar my bird 

to its nest, 
But with pinions drooping together silence is 

best. 

In the Land of Beautiful Silence the winds are 

laid, 
And life grows quietly one in the cloudy shade. 
I will not waken the passion that sleeps in the 

heart, 
For the winds that blew us together may blow 

us apart. 

S3 



Fear not the stillness ; for doubt and despair 

shall cease 
With the gentle voices guiding us into peace. 
Our dreams will change as they pass through 

the gates of gold, 
And Quiet, the tender shepherd, shall keep the 

fold. 



54 



APHRODITE 

Not unremembering we pass our exile from the 

starry ways : 
One timeless hour in time we caught from the 

long night of endless days. 
With solemn gaiety the stars danced far with- 
drawn on elfin heights : 
The lilac breathed amid the shade of green and 

blue and citron lights. 
But yet the close enfolding night seemed on the 

phantom verge of things, 
For our adoring hearts had turned within from 

all their wanderings : 
For beauty called to beauty, and there thronged 

at the enchanter's will 
The vanished hours of love that burn within the 

Ever-living still. 

SS 



And sweet eternal faces put the shadows of the 

earth to rout, 
And faint and fragile as a moth your white hand 

fluttered and went out. 
Oh, who am I who tower beside this goddess of 

the twilight air ? 
The burning doves fly from my heart, and melt 

within her bosom there. 
I know the sacrifice of old they offered to the 

mighty queen, 
And this adoring love has brought us back the 

beauty that has been. 
As to her worshippers she came descending from 

her glowing skies, 
So Aphrodite I have seen with shining eyes look 

through your eyes : 
One gleam of the ancestral face which lighted up 

the dawn for me : 
One fiery visitation of the love the gods desire 

in thee ! 



56 



REFUGE 

Twilight, a timid fawn, went glimmering by, 
And Night, the dark-blue hunter, followed 
fast, 

Ceaseless pursuit and flight were in the sky, 
But the long chase had ceased for us at last. 

We watched together while the driven fawn 
Hid in the golden thicket of the day. 

We, from whose hearts pursuit and flight were 
gone, 
Knew on the hunter's breast her refuge lay. 



57 



THE FACES OF MEMORY 

Dream faces bloom around your face 

Like flowers upon one stem ; 
The heart of many a vanished race 

Sighs as I look on them. 

The sun rich face of Egypt glows, 

The eyes of Eire brood, 
With whom the golden Cyprian shows 

In lovely sisterhood. 

Your tree put forth these phantom flowers 

I n ages past away : 
They had the love in other hours 

I give to you to-day. 

58 



One light their eyes have, as may shine 

One star on many a sea, 
They look that tender love on mine 

That lights your glance on me. 

They fade in you ; their lips are fain 

To meet the old caress : 
And all their love is mine again 

As lip to lip we press. 



59 



THE SECRET LOVE 

You and I have found the secret way, 
None can bar our love or say us nay : 
All the world may stare and never know 
You and I are twined together so. 

You and I for all his vaunted width 
Know the giant Space is but a myth ; 
Over miles and miles of pure deceit 
You and I have found our lips can meet. 

You and I have laughed the leagues apart 
In the soft delight of heart to heart. 
If there's a gulf to meet or limit set, 
You and I have never found it yet. 
60 



You and I have trod the backward way 
To the happy heart of yesterday, 
To the love we felt in ages past. 
You and I have found it still to last. 

You and I have found the joy had birth 
In the angel childhood of the earth, 
Hid within the heart of man and maid. 
You and I of Time are not afraid. 

• 
You and I can mock his fabled wing, 
For a kiss is an immortal thing. 
And the throb wherein those old lips met 
Is a living music in us yet. 



61 



THE WEAVER OF SOULS 

Who is this unseen messenger 

For ever between me and her, 

Who brings love's precious merchandise, 

The golden breath, the dew of sighs, 

And the wild, gentle thoughts that dwell 

Too fragile for the lips to tell, 

Each at their birth, to us before 

A heaving of the heart is o'er. 

Who art thou, unseen messenger ? 

I think, O Angel of the Lord, 
You make our hearts to so accord 
That those who hear in after hours 
May sigh for love as deep as ours ; 
62 



And seek the magic that can give 
An Eden where the soul may live, 
Nor need to walk a road of clay 
With stumbling feet, nor fall away 
From thee, O Angel of the Lord. 



63 



TRANSFORMATION 

In other climes as the times shall fleet 

You yet may the hero be. 
And a loving heart may beat, my sweet, 

In a woman's breast for thee. 

Your flight shall be in the height above, 
My wings droop low on the lea. 

For the eagle must grow a dove, my love, 
And the dove an eagle be. 



6 4 



CHILDREN OF LIR 

We woke from our sleep in the bosom where 

cradled together we lay : 
The love of the Dark Hidden Father went with 

us upon our way. 
And gay was the breath in our being, and never 

a sorrow or fear 
Was on us as, singing together, we flew from 

the infinite Lir. 

Through nights lit with diamond and sapphire 

we raced with the Children of Dawn, 
A chain that was silver and golden linked spirit 

to spirit, my swan, 
Till day in the heavens passed over, and still 

grew the beat of our wings, 
And the Breath of the Darkness enfolded to 

teach us unspeakable things. 
e 6$ 



Yet lower we fell and for comfort our pinionless 

spirits had now 
The leaning of bosom to bosom, the lifting of 

lip unto brow. 
Though chained to the earth yet we mourned 

not the loss of our heaven above, 
But passed from the vision of Beauty to the 

fathomless being of Love. 

Still gay is the breath in our being, we wait for 

the Bell Branch to ring 
To call us away to the Father, and then we will 

rise on the wing, 
And fly through the twilights of time till the 

home lights of heaven appear ; 
Our spirits through love and through longing 

made one in the infinite Lir. 



66 



LIGHT AND DARK 

Not the soul that's whitest 
Wakens love the sweetest : 

When the heart is lightest 
Oft the charm is fleetest. 

While the snow-frail maiden, 
Waits the time of learning, 

To the passion laden 

Turn with eager yearning. 

While the heart is burning 
Heaven with earth is banded 

To the stars returning 
Go not empty-handed. 

' 6 7 



Ah, the snow-frail maiden ! 

Somehow truth has missed her, 
Left the heart unladen 

For its burdened sister. 



68 



TWILIGHT BY THE CABIN 

Dusk, a pearl-grey river, o'er 

Hill and vale puts out the day — 

What do you wonder at, asthore, 
What's away in yonder grey ? 

Dark the eyes that linger long — 
Dream-fed heart, awake, come in, 

Warm the hearth and gay the song : 
Love with tender words would win. 

Fades the eve in dreamy fire, 
But the heart of night is lit : 

Ancient beauty, old desire, 
By the cabin doorway flit. 

This is Etain's land and line, 
And the homespun cannot hide 

6 9 



Kinship with a race divine, 

Thrill of rapture, light of pride. 

There her golden kinsmen are : 
And her heart a moment knew 

Angus like the evening star 

Fleeting through the dusk and dew. 

Throw the woman's mask away : 
Wear the opal glimmering dress ; 

Let the feathered starlight ray 
Over every gleaming tress. 

Child of Etain, wherefore leave 
Light and laughter, joyful years, 

For the earth's grey coloured eve 
Ever dropping down with tears ? 

Was it for some love of old ? 

Ah, reveal thyself. The bars 
On the gateway would not hold : 

He will follow to the stars. 
70 



BEAUTY 

My spirit would have beauty to build its magic 

art. 
Come hither, star of evening, and dwell within 

my heart. 
Oh, twilight, fall in pearl dew, each healing drop 

may bring 
Some image of the song the Quiet seems to sing. 

My spirit would have beauty to offer at the 

shrine, 
And turn dull earth to gold and water into 

wine, 
And burn in fiery dreams each thought till 

thrice refined 
It may have power to mirror the mighty Master's 

mind. 

7 1 



My spirit would have beauty to draw thee nigh, 

my bird. 
I seek the lips that spake thee, sung thee, a 

starry word. 
Td breathe anew that music, and lure thee from 

afar, 
And still thy quivering pinions at peace in thy 

own star. 



7* 



THE VISION OF LOVE 

The twilight fleeted away in pearl on the 

stream, 
And night, like a diamond dome, stood still in 

our dream. 
Your eyes like burnished stones or as stars were 

bright 
With the sudden vision that made us one with 

the night. 

We loved in infinite spaces, forgetting here 
The breasts that were lit with life and the lips 

so near ; 
Till the wizard willows waved in the wind and 

drew 
Me away from the fulness of love and down to 

you. 

73 



Our love was so vast that it filled the heavens 

up: 
But the soft white form I held was an empty 

cup, 
When the willows called me back to earth with 

their sigh, 
And we moved as shades through the deep that 

was you and I. 



74 



A MEMORY 

You remember, dear, together 

Two children, you and I, 
Sat once in the autumn weather, 

Watching the autumn sky. 

There was some one round us straying 
The whole of the long day through, 

Who seemed to say, " I am playing 
At hide and seek with you." 

And one thing after another 

Was whispered out of the air, 
How God was a big, kind brother 

Whose home is in everywhere. 

His light like a smile comes glancing 

Through the cool, cool winds as they pass, 

75 



From the flowers in heaven dancing 
To the stars that shine in the grass. 

From the clouds in deep blue wreathing 
And most from the mountains tall, 

But God like a wind goes breathing 
A dream of Himself in all. 

The heart of the Wise was beating 
Sweet, sweet, in our hearts that day : 

And many a thought came fleeting 
And fancies solemn and gay. 

We were grave in our way divining 
How childhood was taking wings, 

And the wonder world was shining 
With vast eternal things. 

The solemn twilight fluttered 
Like the plumes of seraphim, 

And we felt what things were uttered 
In the sunset voice of Him. 

7 6 




We lingered long, for dearer 

Than home were the mountain places 
Where God from the stars dropt nearer 

Our pale, dreamy faces. 

Our very hearts from beating 

We stilled in awed delight, 
For spirit and children were meeting 

In the purple, ample night. 



77 



A SUMMER NIGHT 

Her mist of primroses within her breast 
Twilight hath folded up, and o'er the west, 
Seeking remoter valleys long hath gone, 
Not yet hath come her sister of the dawn. 
Silence and coolness now the earth enfold, 
Jewels of glittering green, long mists of gold, 
Hazes of nebulous silver veil the height, 
And shake in tremors through the shadowy night. 
Heard through the stillness, as in whispered 

words, 
The wandering God-guided wings of birds 
Ruffle the dark. The little lives that lie 
Deep hid in grass join in a long-drawn sigh 
More softly still ; and unheard through the blue 
The falling of innumerable dew, 

78 



Lifts with grey fingers all the leaves that lay 
Burned in the heat of the consuming day. 
The lawns and lakes lie in this night of love, 
Admitted to the majesty above. 
Earth with the starry company hath part ; 
The waters hold all heaven within their heart, 
And glimmer o'er with wave-lips everywhere 
Lifted to meet the angel lips of air. 
The many homes of men shine near and far, 
Peace-laden as the tender evening star, 
The late home-coming folk anticipate 
Their rest beyond the passing of the gate, 
And tread with sleep-filled hearts and drowsy feet. 
Oh, far away and wonderful and sweet 
All this, all this. But far too many things 
Obscuring, as a cloud of seraph wings 
Blinding the seeker for the Lord behind, 
I fall away in weariness of mind. 
And think how far apart are I and you, 
Beloved, from those spirit children who 
Felt but one single Being long ago, 
Whispering in gentleness and leaning low 

79 



Out of its majesty, as child to child. 

I think upon it all with heart grown wild. 

Hearing no voice, howe'er my spirit broods, 

No whisper from the dense infinitudes, 

This world of myriad things whose distance awes. 

Ah me ; how innocent our childhood was ! 



WHOM WE WORSHIP 

I would not have the love of lips and eyes, 

The ancient ways of love : 
But in my heart I built a Paradise, 

A nest there for the dove. 

I felt the wings of light that fluttered through 

The gate I held apart : 
And all without was shadow, but I knew 

The bird within my heart. 

Then, while the innermost with music beat, 

The voice I loved so long 
Seemed only the dream echo faint and sweet 

Of a far sweeter song. 
f 81 



I could not even bear the thought I felt 

Of Thee and Me therein ; 
And with white heat I strove the veil to melt 

That love to love might win. 

But ah, my dreams within their fountain fell ; 

Not to be lost in thee, 
But with the high ancestral love to dwell 

In its lone ecstasy. 



82 



MISTRUST 

You look at me with wan, bright eyes 
When in the deeper world I stray: 

You fear some hidden ambush lies 
In wait to call me, " Come away." 

What if I see behind the veil 
Your starry self beseeching me, 

Or at its stern command grow pale, 
" Let her be free, let her be free " ? 



83 



THE DREAM 

I woke to find my pillow wet 

With tears for deeds deep hid in sleep. 
I knew no sorrow here, but yet 

The tears fell softly through the deep. 

Your eyes, your other eyes of dream, 
Looked at me through the veil of blank ; 

I saw their joyous, starlit gleam 

Like one who watches rank on rank 

His victor airy legions wind 

And pass before his awful throne — 

Was there thy loving heart unkind, 
Was I thy captive all o'erthrown? 



8 4 



THE FEAST OF AGE 

See where the light streams over Connla's 
fountain 

Starward aspire ! 
The sacred sign upon the holy mountain 

Shines in white fire : 
Wavering and flaming yonder o'er the snows 

The diamond light 
Melts into silver or to sapphire glows, 

Night beyond night: 
And from the Heaven of Heaven descends on 
earth 

A dew divine. 
Come, let us mingle in the starry mirth 

Around the shrine. 
O Earth, Enchantress, Mother, to our home 

In thee we press, 

85 



Thrilled by thy fiery breath and wrapt in some 

Vast tenderness. 
The homeward birds, uncertain o'er their nest, 

Wheel in the dome, 
Fraught with dim dreams of more enraptured 
rest, 

Another home. 
But gather ye, to whose undarkened eyes 

Night is as day, 
Leap forth, immortals, Birds of Paradise, 

In bright array, 
Robed like the shining tresses of the sun, 

And by his name 
Call from his haunt divine the ancient one, 

Our Father Flame. 
Aye, from the wonder light, heart of our star, 

Come now, come now. 
Sun-breathing spirit, ray thy lights afar : 

Thy children bow, 
Hush with more awe the heart ; the bright- 
browed races 

Are nothing worth, 
86 



By those dread gods from out whose awful faces 

The earth looks forth 
Infinite pity set in calm, whose vision cast 

Adown the years 
Beholds how beauty burns away at last 

Their children's tears. 
Now while our hearts the ancient quietness 

Floods with its tide, 
The things of air and fire and height no less 

In it abide ; 
And from their wanderings over sea and shore 

They rise as one 
Unto the vastness, and with us adore 

The midnight sun, 
And enter the innumerable All 

And shine like gold, 
And starlike gleam in the immortal's hall, 

The heavenly fold, 
And drink the sun-breaths from the Mother's lips 

Awhile, and then 
Fail from the light and drop in dark eclipse 

To earth again, 
87 



Roaming along by heaven-hid promontory 

And valley dim, 
Weaving a phantom image of the glory 

They knew in Him. 
Out of the fulness flow the winds, their song 

Is heard no more, 
Or hardly breathes a mystic sound along 

The dreamy shore, 
Blindly they move, unknowing as in trance ; 

Their wandering 
Is half with us, and half an inner dance, 

Led by the King. 



88 



A WAY OF ESCAPE 

There's a way of escape through the Gate of 
Sorrow, 

A light at the end of the Path of Pain : 
But our joy and our love can have no to-morrow, 

And to drink is to sink to the earth again. 

There is death in the breath when our lips draw 
nigher, 
And we lay waste the plain for a flower to 
grow; 
And we build up the tower of an hour's desire 
With dust from the pit of its overthrow. 



8 9 



RECALL 

What call may draw thee back again, 

Lost dove, what art, what charm may please? 

The tender touch, the kiss, are vain, 
For thou wert lured away by these. 

Oh, must we use the iron hand, 

And mask with hate the holy breath, 

With alien voice give love's command, 
As they through love the call of death ? 



90 



THE VOICE OF THE WATERS 

Where the Greyhound River windeth through 

a loneliness so deep, 
Scarce a wild fowl shakes the quiet that the 

purple boglands keep, 
Only God exults in silence over fields no man 

may reap. 

Where the silver wave with sweetness fed the 

tiny lives of grass 
I was bent above, my image mirrored in the 

fleeting glass, 
And a voice from out the water through my 

being seemed to pass. 
9 1 



" Still above the waters brooding, spirit, in thy 
timeless quest; 

Was the glory of thine image trembling over east 
and west 

Not divine enough when mirrored in the morn- 
ing water's breast ? " 



With the sighing voice that murmured I was 

borne to ages dim 
Ere the void was lit with beauty breathed upon 

by seraphim, 
We were cradled there together folded in the 

peace in Him. 



One to be the master spirit, one to be the slave 

awoke, 
One to shape itself obedient to the fiery words 

we spoke, 
Flame and flood and stars and mountains from 

the primal waters broke. 
92 



I was huddled in the heather when the vision 

failed its light, 
Still and blue and vast above me towered aloft 

the solemn height, 
Where the stars like dewdrops glistened on the 

mountain slope of night. 



93 



IN CONNEMARA 

With eyes all untroubled she laughs as she 
passes, 
Bending beneath the creel with the seaweed 
brown. 
Till evening with pearl dew dims the shining 
grasses 
And night lit with dreamlight enfolds the 
sleepy town. 

Then she will wander, her heart all a laughter, 
Tracking the dream star that lights the purple 
gloom. 
She follows the proud and golden races after, 
As high as theirs her spirit, as high will be her 
doom. 

94 



AN IRISH FACE 

Not her own sorrow only that hath place 

Upon yon gentle face. 

Too slight have been her childhood's years to 

gain 
The imprint of such pain. 

It hid behind her laughing hours, and wrought 
Each curve in saddest thought 
On brow and lips and eyes. With subtle art 
It made that little heart 

Through its young joyous beatings to prepare 
A quiet shelter there, 

Where the Immortal Sorrows might find a home. 
And many there have come ; 
Bowed in a mournful mist of golden hair 
Deirdre hath entered there. ' 

95 



And shrouded in a fall of pitying dew, 

Weeping the friend he slew, 

The Hound of Ulla lies, with those who shed 

Tears for the Wild Geese fled. 

And all the lovers on whom fate had warred 

Cutting the Silver Cord 

Enter, and softly breath by breath they mould 

The young heart to the old, 

The old protest, the old pity, whose power 

Are gathering to the hour 

When their knit silence shall be mightier far 

Than leagued empires are. 

And dreaming of the sorrow on this face 

We grow of lordlier race, 

Could shake the rooted rampart of the hills 

To shield her from all ills, 

And through a deep adoring pity won 

Grow what we dream upon. 



9 6 



HOPE IN FAILURE 

Though now thou hast failed and art fallen, 

despair not because of defeat. 
Though lost for a while be thy heaven and weary 

of earth be thy feet, 
For all will be beauty about thee hereafter 

through sorrowful years, 
And lovely the dews for thy chilling and ruby 

thy heart-drip of tears. 

The eyes that had gazed from afar on a beauty 

that blinded the eyes 
Shall call forth its image for ever, its shadow in 

alien skies. 
The heart that had striven to beat in the heart 

of the Mighty too soon 
Shall still of that beating remember some errant 

and faltering tune. 

97 



For thou hast but fallen to gather the last of the 

secrets of power ; 
The beauty that breathes in thy spirit shall shape 

of thy sorrow a flower, 
The pale bud of pity shall open the bloom of its 

tenderest rays, 
The heart of whose shining is bright with the 

light of the Ancient of Days. 



9 8 



THE CROWN 

I wore in joy a radiant star ; 

Its rays flew forth into the night; 
It made them glad who watched afar, 

And filled their gloom with happy light. 

Their eyes no more the light may win, 
And all the loves are changed to scorns. 

The rays of light pierce deep within, 
The star is now my crown of thorns. 

L of C. 



99 



THE EVERLASTING BATTLE 

When in my shadowy hours I pierce the hidden 
heart of hopes and fears, 

They change into immortal joys or end in im- 
memorial tears. 

Moytura's battle still endures and in this human 
heart of mine 

The golden sun powers with the might of demon 
darkness intertwine. 



I think that every teardrop shed still flows from 

Balor's eye of doom, 
And gazing on his ageless grief my heart is filled 

with ageless gloom : 

ioo 



I close my ever-weary eyes and in my bitter 

spirit brood 
And am at one in vast despair with all the 

demon multitude. 

But in the lightning flash of hope I feel the sun- 
god's fiery sling 

Has smote the horror in the heart where clouds 
of demon glooms take wing, 

I shake my heavy fears aside and seize the flam- 
ing sword of will, 

I am of Dana's race divine and know I am im- 
mortal still. 



IOI 



ORDEAL 

Love and pity are pleading with me this hour. 

What is this voice that stays me forbidding to 
yield, 
Offering beauty, love, and immortal power, 

TEons away in some far-off heavenly field ? 

Though I obey thee, Immortal, my heart is 
sore. 
Though love be withdrawn for love it bitterly 
grieves : 
Pity withheld in the breast makes sorrow more. 
Oh that the heart could feel what the mind 
believes ! 

102 



Cease, O love, thy fiery and gentle pleading. 
Soft is thy grief, but in tempest through me it 
rolls. 
Dream'st thou not whither the path is leading 
Where the Dark Immortal would shepherd 
our weeping souls ? 



103 



THE CHILD OF DESTINY 

This is the hero-heart of the enchanted isle, 
Whom now the twilight children tenderly en- 
fold, 
Pat with their pearly palms and crown with elfin 

gold, 
While in the mountain's breast his brothers 

watch and smile. 
Who now of Dana's host may guide these 

dancing feet ? 
What bright immortal hides and through a 

child's light breath 
Laughs an immortal joy — Angus of love and 

death 
Returned to make our hearts with dream and 

music beat ? 

104 



Or Lugh leaves heavenly wars to free his ancient 

land ; 
Not on the fiery steed maned with tumultuous 

flame 
As in the Fomor days the sunbright chieftain 

came, 
But in this dreaming boy, more subtle conquest 

planned. 
Or does the Mother brood some deed of sacri- 
fice ? 
Her heart in his laid bare to hosts of wounding 

spears, 
Till love immortal melt the cruel eyes to tears, 
Or on his brow be set the heroes' thorny prize. 
See ! as some shadows of a darker race draw 

near, 
How he compels their feet, with what a proud 

command ! 
What is it waves and gleams ? Is that a Silver 

Hand 
Whose light through delicate lifted fingers shines 

so clear ? 

105 



Night like a glowing seraph o'er the kingly boy 
Watches with ardent eyes from his own ancient 

home ; 
And far away, rocking in living foam, 
The three great waves leap up exulting in their 

Remembering the past, the immemorial deeds 
The Danaan gods had wrought in guise of 

mortal men, 
Their elemental hearts madden with life again, 
And shaking foamy heads toss the great ocean 

steeds. 



1 06 



A FAREWELL 

Only in my deep heart I love you, sweetest 
heart. 
Many another vesture hath the soul, I pray 
Call me not forth from this. If from the light I 
part 
Only with clay I cling unto the clay. 

And ah ! my bright companion, you and I must 

g° 
Our ways, unfolding lonely glories, not our 

own, 

Nor from each other gathered, but an inward 

glow 

Breathed by the Lone One on the seeker lone. 

107 



If for the heart's own sake we break the heart, 
we may 
When the last ruby drop dissolves in diamond 
light 
Meet in a deeper vesture in another day. 

Until that dawn, dear heart, good-night, good- 
night. 



108 



THE PARTING OF WAYS 

The skies from black to pearly grey 
Had veered without a star or sun ; 

Only a burning opal ray 

Fell on your brow when all was done. 

Aye, after victory, the crown ; 

Yet through the fight no word of cheer ; 
And what would win and what go down 

No word could help, no light make clear, 

A thousand ages onward led 

Their joys and sorrows to that hour; 
No wisdom weighed, no word was said, 

For only what we were had power. 
109 



There was no tender leaning there 
Of brow to brow in loving mood ; 

For we were rapt apart, and were 
In elemental solitude. 

We knew not in redeeming day 

Whether our spirits would be found 

Floating along the starry way, 

Or in the earthly vapours drowned. 

Brought by the sunrise-coloured flame 
To earth, uncertain yet, the while 

I looked at you, there slowly came, 
Noble and sisterly, your smile. 

We bade adieu to love the old ; 

We heard another lover then, 
Whose forms are myriad and untold, 

Sigh to us from the hearts of men. 



no 



A MIDNIGHT MEDITATION 

How often have I said, 

"We may not grieve for the immortal dead." 
And now, poor blenched heart, 
Thy ruddy hues all tremulous depart. 
Why be with fate at strife 
Because one passes on from death to life, 
Who may no more delay 
Rapt from our strange and pitiful dream away 
By One with ancient claim 
Who robes her with the spirit like a flame. 
Not lost this high belief — 
Oh, passi nate heart, what is thy cause for grief? 
Is this thy sorrow now, 
She in eternal beauty may not bow 
Thy troubles to efface 
in 



As in old time a head with gentle grace 

All tenderly laid by thine 

Taught thee the nearness of the love divine. 

Her joys no more for thee 

Than the impartial laughter of the sea, 

Her beauty no more fair 

For thee alone, but starry, everywhere. 

Her pity dropped for you 

No more than heaven above with healing dew 

Favours one home of men — 

Ah ! grieve not ; she becomes herself again, 

And passed beyond thy sight 

She roams along the thought-swept fields of light, 

Moving in dreams until 

She finds again the root of ancient will, 

The old heroic love 

That emptied once the heavenly courts above. 

The angels heard from earth 

A mournful cry which shattered all their mirth, 

Raised by a senseless rout 

Warring in chaos with discordant shout, 

And that the pain might cease 

112 



They grew rebellious in the Master's peace; 

And falling downward then 

The angelic lights were crucified in men; 

Leaving so radiant spheres 

For earth's dim twilight ever wet with tears 

That through those shadows dim 

Might breathe the lovely music brought from 

Him. 
And now my grief I see 
Was but that ancient shadow part of me, 
Not yet attuned to good, 
Still blind and senseless in its warring mood, 
I turn from it and climb 
To the heroic spirit of the prime, 
The light that well foreknew 
All the dark ways that it must journey through. 
Yet seeing still a gain, 
A distant glory o'er the hills of pain, 
Through all that chaos wild 
A breath as gentle as a little child, 
Through earth transformed, divine, 
The Christ-soul of the universe to shine. 

H 113 



AGE AND YOUTH 

We have left our youth behind : 

Earth is in its baby years : 
Void of wisdom cries the wind, 

And the sunlight knows no tears. 

When shall twilight feel the awe, 
All the rapt thought of the sage, 

And the lips of wind give law 

Drawn from out their lore of age ? 

When shall earth begin to burn 

With such love as thrills my breast? 

When shall we together turn 

To our long, long home for rest ? 
114 



Child and father, we grow old 

While you laugh and play with flowers ; 
And life's tale for us is told 

Holding only empty hours. 

Giant child, on you await 

All the hopes and fears of men. 

In thy fulness is our fate — 

What till then, oh, what till then ? 



"5 



THE JOY OF EARTH 

Oh, the sudden wings arising from the ploughed 
fields brown ! 
Showered aloft in spray of song the wildbird 
twitter floats 
O'er the unseen fount awhile, and then comes 
dropping down 
Nigh the cool brown earth to hush enraptured 
notes. 

Far within a dome of trembling opal throbs the 

fire, 

Mistily its rain of diamond lances shed below 

Touches eyes and brows and faces lit with wild 

desire 

For the burning silence whither we would go. 

116 



Heart, O heart, once more it is the ancient joy 
of earth 
Breathes in thee and flings the wild wings sun- 
ward to the dome, 
To the light where all the Children of the Fire 
had birth 
Though our hearts and footsteps wander far 

from home. 



117 



RECONCILIATION 

I begin through the grass once again to be bound 

to the Lord ; 
I can see, through a face that has faded, the 

face full of rest 
Of the Earth, of the Mother, my heart with her 

heart in accord, 
As I lie 'mid the cool green tresses that mantle 

her breast 
I begin with the grass once again to be bound to 

the Lord. 

By the hand of a child I am led to the throne of 
the King 
For a touch that now fevers me not is forgotten 
and far, 

118 



And his infinite sceptred hands that sway us can 
bring 
Me in dreams from the laugh of a child to the 

song of a star. 
On the laugh of a child I am borne to the joy of 
the King. 



119 



The sweetest song was ever sung 
May soothe you but a little while : 

The gayest music ever rung 

Shall yield you but a fleeting smile. 

The well I digged you soon shall pass . 

Tou may but rest with me an hour 
Tet drink, I offer you the glass ; 

A moment of sustaining power, 

And give to you, if it be gain. 
Whether in pleasure or annoy, 

To see one elemental pain, 
One light of everlasting joy. 



1 20 



NOTE 

As the mythological references made in a few 
poems may partially obscure the meaning for 
those unacquainted with Celtic tradition, I have 
appended here a brief commentary on the names 
mentioned. 

Angus, the Celtic Eros. In the bardic stories he is 
described as a tall, golden-haired youth playing on 
a harp and surrounded by singing birds. The 
kisses of these birds created love and also brought 
death. 

Balor, the prince of the dark powers. His eye turned 
every living thing it rested on into stone. He 
was killed at the battle of Moytura by Lugh the 
Sun-god. 

Dana, the Hibernian mother of the gods who were 
named from her Tuatha De Danaan, or the Tribes 
of the goddess Dana. They are also sometimes 
called the Sidhe. 

Etain, a Celtic goddess who is the subject of a famous 

121 



NOTE 

story, " The Wooing of Etain." She left the 
Heaven-wor4d and became the wife of an ancient 
Irish king. 

Lir, the Oceanus of Celtic mythology. Probably the 
Great Deep or original divinity from whom all 
sprang. His son Mananan MacLir was the most 
spiritual divinity known to the ancient Gael. 
Lir is more familiar as the father of the children 
who were changed into swans by magic, and who 
lived for long ages on the waters around the Irish 
coast. The story of the fate of the children of 
Lir was probably in its earliest form a mytho- 
logical account of the descent of the spirit from 
the Heaven-world to the Earth and its final re- 
demption. 

Lugh, the great god of light who led the De Danaans 
at the battle of Moytura, and who slew Balor of 
the Evil Eye by a cast from his sling. He is a 
Celtic Hermes or Apollo. 

Fomor, the dark powers who were opposed to the hosts 
of light, the Tuatha De Danaan. They enslaved 
the latter for a time until the De Danaans rose, 
led by Lugh the Sun-god, and defeated the Fomors 
in the battle of Moytura. 
122 



NOTE 

Silver Hand. Nuada, one of the Danaan divinities, is 

called Nuada of the Silver Hand. 
Hound of Vila. Cuculain, the great champion of the 

Red Branch cycle of tales. 
Sacred Hazel, the Celtic tree of life. It grew over 
Connla's Well, and the fruit which fell from it 
were the Nuts of Knowledge which give wisdom 
and inspiration. Connla's Well is a Celtic equi- 
valent of the First Fountain of mysuc.sm. As 
an old story states, "The folk of many arts have 
all drunk from that fountain." 
"The three great waves" are "the wave of Toth, the 
wave of Rury, and the long, slow, white-foammg 
wave of Cluna." In the bardic stories these three 
mystical waves shout round the coast of Ireland in 
recognition of great kings and heroes. 
"The Feast of Age," the druidic form of the mystenes. 
It was instituted by Mananan MacLir, and who- 
ever partook of the feast became immortal. 



THE END 



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